Put down your cell phone and be sure to buckle up

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 1:00 am, Saturday, February 25, 2006

When one talks state and local politics, traffic congestion is always a topic on the top of voter's minds. As Danbury's population grows, alleviating the downtown congestion has rightfully been a priority of City Hall. Traffic congestion is of course often worsened by accidents caused by careless driving. It has been six months since Connecticut enacted a law forbidding the use of hand held cell phones while driving. However, when driving both city and highway roads I continue to see numerous drivers using handheld cell phones.

I have to admit that at the beginning in early October and November I had trouble adapting to the new law as old habits are hard to break. However, when I heard about a study that showed driving while operating a cell phone was more dangerous than drunken driving, that was all it took for me to change my ways. I am not sure of the validity of the study, but the fact that the data was even comparable was scary enough to set me straight.

An older but just as important traffic safety law on the books is the law requiring one to wear a seat belt while riding in or operating a motor vehicle. This is one area where Hispanics are not complying with the law enough despite their support of it. According to a recent motor vehicle occupant safety survey by NHSTA, 92 percent of Hispanics expressed support for laws requiring front seat passengers to wear seat belts. Despite this support, Hispanic drivers have lower seat belt use rates than non-Hispanic whites, with correspondingly higher fatality rates in traffic crashes. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Hispanics from 1-44 years of age, and are the third leading cause of death for Hispanics of all ages, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.

The best way to address these issues is through education and media campaigns to get the word out. So while this may not be the most exciting topic in the world, if it can get a few people to put down their cell phones and buckle up while driving it will make for a better community. We all think of ourselves are the "best" drivers, but you can't be the best when you are distracted. So do yourselves and your community a favor and help alleviate our traffic congestion problem by getting off the phone and buckle up when driving.

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Eliette Matos is publisher of El Canillita, a weekly Spanish language newspaper distributed throughout Connecticut and located in Danbury. She can be contacted at (203) 798-2120.